1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer data and information systems, and more particularly to a computer tool for storing, processing, and displaying contact information.
2. Related Art
In today's technological climate, the availability of computers, telecommunications, and related technology has dramatically changed the way that business is conducted. For example, the explosion of people connected to the global Internet has dramatically increased the usage of electronic mail (e-mail) for business communications. Further, the development of high speed data networks has increased the use of video conferencing centers and related equipment for business meetings.
The rapid advancement of technology has increased the speed and reliability in which business persons can communicate with each other. Fortuitously, the increase in speed and reliability has been accompanied by a decrease in associated costs. The use of e-mail, for example, saves telephone, facsimile, and shipping, costs. Similarly, the use of video conferencing saves travel costs and time.
The above noted examples are just a few among the many instances of how today's technological advances have changed the business environment. There is one aspect of business, however, that has not been affected (or aided) by today's technological advances. That aspect can be characterized as the "business relationship." More specifically, business persons depend heavily, and attribute their successfulness, on their relationships with people--known commonly as their "contacts." It is not a secret that in all human endeavors, the difference between failure and success often depends on not "what you know," but "who you know." Put quite simply, contacts (i.e., human capital) are important.
Today, every person keeps a list of their contacts in some fashion (e.g., address book, Rolodex.RTM. card tray files, electronic files, contact manager software, in their own memory, etc.). Each person typically regards their list of contacts as confidential (i.e., proprietary). This is typically true regardless of whether the person is a solo entrepreneur, part of a multi-national corporation, or a participant in any endeavor. Thus, when a business person thinks of a new venture, a common thought is: "How can I get to XYZ Company who can help me?" or "Who do I know at XYZ Company?" Similarly, when a group of business persons from the same company get together to plan a venture, a common question is: "How can we get to XYZ Company who can help us?" or "Who do we know at XYZ Company?" These questions are then followed by a series of: "Well, I know Mr. D at ABC Company who may know Ms. W at XYZ Company."
This problem is further compounded by cultural considerations. More specifically, in the United States business persons may decide to reach a company where they have no contacts (or where they may have a contact but unaware of such contact) with a "cold call." Cold calls are unsolicited business telephone calls from an unknown person. This business practice, however, is not acceptable and disfavored in certain cultures (e.g., Asia, Middle East, etc.). Thus, without the cold call option, having a contact into a company becomes even more important.
Further, business persons typically are aware of the persons (i.e., contacts) they require to meet or how to reach them via their personal contacts. That is, many business persons have a regional (i.e., territorial) or a specific business field knowledge-base. In today's global economy, however, businesses much reach and exploit cross-border and cross-industry opportunities. Thus, once again, having a contact into a company is shown to be important.
In the above "how do I [or we] get to XYZ Company" or "Who do I [or we] know at XYZ Company?" process, another series of time-consuming steps usually occurs. Typically, a company may employ a research assistant to search publicly available databases to ascertain who are the top-level persons (e.g., CEO, CFO, Chairperson, President, Board member, etc.) at XYZ Company. This may involve checking such sources as corporate reports available from sources such as, for example, D&B Million Dollar Directory.RTM. database of the top 50,000 public and private U.S. companies available from the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation of Murray Hill, N.J., the Amadeus database on the top 200,000 companies in Europe available from Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing S.A., London, United Kingdom, or publications such as the countless "Who's Who" directories. After the research assistant produces a list of names, each person within the group must then check their personal contact list to see if they know any of the top-level persons at XYZ Company directly, or if they can "reach" those top-level persons indirectly via someone they know.
This inefficient process is further flawed, in the example of a group of business persons from the same company, considering that the "right" people may not even be present at the meeting. That is, a business person within the corporation may know a top-level person at XYZ Company, but that person may not be at the meeting and the persons who arc at the meeting will have no knowledge of the absent person's (proprietary) contacts.
A second flaw, in both the entrepreneurial or organizational examples, is that individuals often do not remember in most instances who all their contacts are. That is, there is a human factor involved in recalling "I know so and so at so and so company," or "so and so knows so and so." This flaw is especially true considering the significant amount of people who currently retain their private contact information in memory rather than electronic file or simply an address book.
Yet a third flaw is the dependency on inaccurate public information databases and publications which may contain imprecise and/or out-of-date information. This requires the entire manual process to be repeated when it is eventually learned that a contact is no longer associated with an organization, or any other mistake in the process occurred.
While the above discussion speaks in terms of a solo entrepreneur or a group of business persons within an corporation, the same "how do I [or we] get to XYZ Company" or "Who do I [or we] know at XYZ Company?" problem is experienced by many entities. Such entities include, for example, individuals, partnerships, national corporations, multi-national corporations, trade organizations, lobbying firms, job-placement agencies, fund-raising organizations, universities, and the like. That is, any entity that utilizes (and needs) contacts to successfully operate and thrive are all faced with the above-described problem. In sum, entities currently do not take full advantage of their personal contacts, intra-entity contacts, and the contacts of their contacts. Thus, businesses and other endeavors arc presently underutilizing one of the greatest assets an entity can possess--human relationships and human capital.
Therefore, what is needed is a system, method, and computer program product for providing relational patterns between entities. Such a system, method, and computer program product should allow individual (or proprietary) contact data to be merged with accurate and up-to-date public information in order to explore the full scope of an individual's or business concern's sphere of influence. Because presently, there is never a lack of information, but a lack of correlation and presentation of information, the system, method, and computer program product should intelligently establish and present the contacts of contacts and further display (and print) the optimal relationship path to reach desired contacts (i.e., persons or organizations).